The latest First Reads Goodreads giveaway this pedometer geek read was a Kindle edition of Elisa Lorello’s The Second First Time. Recently Goodreads has added this option to their giveaways, but I digress. Although this was an e-book, it is available as a book as well. This author has several other novels to her name, but this is the first of hers that this pedometer geek has read. This is the extended review.

The Second First Time

by Elisa Lorello

Published by Lake Union Publishing, 2016

a division of Amazon Publishing

ISBN: 978-1503941243

Lorello’s novel is a contemporary romance that is all about finding home, and finding the person that makes you feel that you are home. As the synopsis of the novel indicates this pair of novelists, Sage Merriweather and Jonathan Moss, should be a perfect match. They share the same publisher, have become best friends, and have mutual respect for each other. They may even have deeper feelings for each other so they plan a cross-country trip together to explore possibilities of taking things further. That is, until Jon bails out at the last moment, leaving Sage devastated.

As the book opens, it’s a year later, and Sage is finally beginning to heal from his Dear Jane letter. The story is told through Sage’s perspective, and the reader is treated to both her inner dialog as well as the action going on between characters. Her writing of romances allows her to create stories of happily-ever-after loves rather than abandonment.

For Sage, home has always been Long Island with her mother and sister Gaia, especially after her (now estranged) dad divorced her mother and abandoned his daughters. So when she finds out about his death and upcoming memorial service, she still calls the man who broke her heart…the man who was her best friend, the man with whom she had decided to go on a cross-country road trip a year ago…until he bailed out on her with a devastating letter.
Jon suggests they give the trip another try, their relationship another try as well as offering to go to the memorial service with her. This is a second first time for both, but can they forge a relationship, can they forge a love when one is still reeling from the hurt? And even if the trip is successful, and with them living on separate coasts, can they find where “home” truly is?

This contemporary romance is about letting go of hurts, finding that best friends can also be in love, that sometimes less is more, and home is where the heart is. Writers Jon and Sage deepen their friendship and love on a road trip fraught with emotional potholes.
The romance does not have graphic sex scenes, but it’s definitely a story similar to the kind she is described as writing. (Does life imitate art, or just the reverse?)

Both main characters are fleshed out. Both Sage and Jon seem realistic; they are not so exotic and rich as to be unbelievable, which is part of the charm of the story. Their experiences on the road trip as they go through awkward moments are both funny and poignant.

There are some minor typos in the text, but not enough to make it irritating. The story is not full of What-the-tuck trends, which is refreshing. The book was a pleasant surprise, and makes this reader want to read more by the author.

A few quotes of note:

” There’s always a defining moment in your life where, if you had to do it over, you’d go back and change the trajectory.” (3%, beginning of Chapter 2)

“As with so many things, the day the depth of one’s desire surpasses the depth of one’s fear one’s life is always when one’s life changes for the better.” (66%, Chapter 16)

The latest First Reads Goodreads giveaway book that this pedometer geek read was Jenny Colgan’s novel, The Bookshop on the Corner. It was originally published in the United Kingdom by Little, Brown Book Group under the title of The Little Shop of Happy-Ever-After. Personally, this reader prefers the original UK title as it seems to represent the book better, but then perhaps, it wouldn’t have been read at all by me. Regardless, this was the first novel of hers this pedometer geek has read, but it probably won’t be the last. Fortunately, Colgan is the author of over sixteen titles. Here is the extended review.

The Bookshop on the Corner

by Jenny Colgan

Published by William Morrow, 2016

an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers

ISBN: 978-0-06-246725-6

“Let us read, and let us dance; these two amusements will never do any harm to the world.” –Voltaire

This is the epigraph at the beginning of this novel. It definitely seems fitting as the protagonist becomes a bookseller, but that is getting ahead of the story.

As the blurb states: “Nina Redmond is a literary matchmaker. Pairing a reader with that perfect book is her passion…and also her job. Or at least it was. Until yesterday, she was a librarian in the hectic city. But now the job she loved is no more.”

Nina, an out-of-work librarian, reinvents herself when the library she works for downsizes. She loves books and finding the right book for each person, and she pairs this talent into a mobile bookshop after she buys a van and stocks it with nearly new copies of books from libraries which are closing down.
In the process she moves to a hamlet in Scotland and travels to all the little villages in the area, plying her special book magic. Books are bought; people’s lives are transformed; and happy-ever-after do happen for her patrons. But will Nina find her happy-ever-after?

This is a feel good book that celebrates book lovers and the books that make an impact. Some real books are mentioned as well as some fake titles like Upon the Rooftops. This reader has to admit that this children’s book seemed like an awesome story, and in fact, was disappointed to find that it wasn’t available. Alas…

Characters are multi-faceted and realistic, and some were even a bit quirky. The two love interests of Nina were not the usual run of the mill males. Ainslee, her teenage helper, was a particular favorite. There are enough adventures that keep the story fresh and interesting, making this a magical read.

Here are a few quotes from the book that I found both interesting and philosophical.
“If you thought of all the tiny things that divert your path one way or another, some good, some bad, you’d never do anything ever again.” (page 27)
“Just do something. You might make a mistake, then you can fix it. But if you do nothing, you can’t fix anything. And your life might turn out to be full of regrets.” (page 40)
“There was a universe inside every human being every bit as big as the universe outside them.” (page 235)

Oh yeah, in regards to how fitting the epigraph is: obviously there are books galore, but there are a few dances as well.